


Misplaced

by love_in_nature



Series: Prompts [6]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cute, F/M, Prompt Fill, Puppies, Solas in our world
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-03
Updated: 2017-03-03
Packaged: 2018-09-28 02:32:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10066547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/love_in_nature/pseuds/love_in_nature
Summary: Prompt fill: I found you petting a small dog and it was adorable.Also known as that time Solas somehow ended up in Emma's world and was found by Emma's lost puppy.Or from Emma's view point, who the hell is this hobo cosplaying as an elf, and why is he so oddly endearing?





	

**Author's Note:**

> Timeline wise in Emma's life she knows Luke at this point, but it is before they started a relationship. This prompt is completely alternate reality from my other Emma and Solas fics :). Only thing that is the same is both their back stories.

She’d known better.  This is what happened when you left puppies unattended.  Bad things.  Bad things happened.  

She’d gone inside for, maybe, two minutes.  Then she’d come out to a little puppy sized hole under her fence and no puppy in site.  She’d only just taken Athena in too.  Little scraggly looking thing that she was.  She’d almost died at the shelter, then been bounced from foster to foster due to some behaviour issues from abuse.  The moment Emma had seen her, she’d known.  Athena must have known too, because the puppy had settled right in with zero issues.

Until now.

Now, here Emma was, running around desperately and trying to track the little creature.  Which was not going to wonderfully.  In fact, she’d been out for almost an hour searching.  Soon she’d call the shelter, start setting out fliers, but first she’d check the park one more time.

As she entered the park she started towards the lake, knowing how labs felt about water.  Though the puppy hadn’t ever swam before to her knowledge, and she was still so tiny and frail.   Please, please, let her be—

“Please desist little one.”  

A male voice, smooth as molasses, was heard through the trees.  For a moment, she had a strong desire to see who it belonged to.  The voice appealing enough that she had the urge to side track before she realized how idiotic that was.  Attracted to a voice, pfft. Who cared what some strange man looked like, she was on a mission damn it.

A resigned sigh before the voice spoke again, “Do you not have a home?”

That caught her attention and immediately diverted her path towards the voice.  You didn’t say something like that to a child.  At least, most wouldn’t.  A dog however…

She turned the path to the lake just in time to see an extremely tall, lean man, kneeling down in front of her puppy.  Athena wagging her tail so hard that her butt moved.  The moment he was down, little paws went to his knees as the puppy reached frantic for his hands.

The man was… well, he was confusing.  On the one hand, he was stunning.  Long limbs, broad shoulders, graceful movements, that voice, a uniquely sculpted jaw, strong facial features, and beautiful, slightly bowed, lips.  

On the other hand, his clothing was extremely odd.  A long tunic that looked homespun with a belt holding it snug around his slender waist.  He wore deep green leggings that ended half way down his calf.  Then he wore some kind of wrapping that went down around his feet.  Bare feet.  Who the fuck went shoeless in a city park?  Was he mad?

Then there were the ears.  Pointed, elfy, but perhaps that explained the outfit?  Maybe, some kind of cosplay or comic con event was going on nearby.  Although, she hadn’t heard of any.  She usually kept track of such things, even if she didn’t attend much anymore.

He reached forward to scratch Athena behind the ears.  She promptly licked at his fingers then plopped down on her back, flailing her little legs and looking up at him with tongue hanging out the side of her mouth.

Little minx.

The man chuckled, the sound a warm ripple over her skin.  He was—

A complete fucking stranger and what the hell was wrong with her?

He scratched Athena’s tummy and spoke again, “Very well.  You may accompany me for now.  You are small for your kind, but that hardly means anything.  Often the smallest buds bloom into the most beautiful of flowers.”  

The fuck was this dude?  Other than disgustingly adorable…

“I imagine you still come with many of the skills that your kind possess.  Have you felt anything odd, little one?  Would you be able to lead me to a tear?  I am unsure what it would feel like to you, but I imagine you could feel the spirits.”

Ooookkkk, and now he had officially crossed into whacka doodle territory.  Ignoring the fact that she had been quietly watching him for the past five minutes from behind a tree.

She took a deep breath and jogged out from behind the tree, feigning surprise when he looked up to her.

“Oh thank goodness, you found her!  Thank you so much.  I was so worried.”

As Emma neared them, he stood and she was struck by just how tall he actually was.  At least a full head taller than her, something that rarely happened.  

“This mabari is your companion?”

“I’m sorry this… uhm… she’s a lab not a,”  She paused, looked at Athena, who was currently licking her own butt, “Anyways, yeah she is mine.  Her name is Athena.  She managed to dig a hole under the fence and wiggle her way out.”

“A lab?”

“Yes, labrador retriever.”  

She shifted, as he continued to stare at her as though she’d spoken pig latin.  Somehow she felt guilty at the thought of just taking off with a quick thank you.  Athena was so tiny.  If not for him something truly bad could have happened to her, and he had been so sweet with her.

“Uhm, can I… buy you a coffee or,”  She swallowed before beaming at him, “I could drive you to your convention if it is far.”

He raised a brow, “My convention?”

“Yes…”  This was not going well, “Uhm whatever you are headed to, I can take you there.”

He hummed in the back of his throat.  His eyes were intent on her.  They were a beautiful steel grey that seemed to be attempting to pierce through her skin.  It did odd things to her tummy.

“I mean you don’t have to let me.  I just wanted to thank you for—”  
  
“I would like to try this… coffee, you spoke of.”

Her brows probably touched her forehead, “You’ve never had coffee?”

“No.”

“Then yes, definitely, coffee.  Uhm,”  She couldn’t take Athena but she didn’t exactly want this guy knowing where she lived either, “Would you mind waiting here while I take Athena home real quick?  It should only take me a couple minutes.  There are some benches over there by the lake.”

“Alright.”  He turned to look out at the lake, apparently dismissing her.

Not much of a talker was he?  So this was going to be… fun.  

She bent down to scoop Athena up in her arms.  Only then did she realize she hadn’t even introduced herself.    
  
She shifted Athena to one arm and held out her hand, “I’m Emma by the way.”

He glanced at her hand, then back to her face before he reached out.  He had long fingers, fingers that made her hand feel small as they wrapped around her.  Another new one for her.

“Solas.”

Well, that was unique and oddly… pretty.

She released his hand and started taking a few steps back, “Great.  Good to meet you, Solas.  I’ll be right back.”

In the end, it took her about 15 minutes to get Athena settled in her puppy proof room and get back to the park.  When she did, he was standing in the exact spot she had left him.  Odd man.  She’d clearly lost her marbles for taking this dude to coffee, but she couldn’t just… not thank him.

After initial greetings were passed, silence fell over them as they walked to get coffee.  Every once in awhile, she would steal glances at him out of the corner of her eyes.  Though his face remained carefully neutral, she saw his eyes taking in everything around them with intense interest.

As they entered the main part of town, and made their way to the coffee shop, the odd stares started.  She carefully ignored them and he seemed oblivious.  

He spoke for the first time since they’d started walking, “It is loud here.”

“Loud?  Really?  I didn’t think it was nearly as bad as most cities.  You must be from somewhere way out in the country.”

He paused, frowned as another car drove past, “I am from,” a pause, “far.”

“I’ve lived most of my life in little towns like this but never the country.  I spent a year in a city during college and hated it.  Everyone squished together, so many people.  Like sardines all the time.”

“More people than here?”  

She had to work to control her features as this whole thing seemed to only grow stranger by the  minute, “Yeah… a lot more.”  She paused, but in the end couldn’t resist asking, “Are you… amish or something by chance?”  
  
“Amish?”

She stopped in front of the coffee shop door, but before she could open it, he had reached around her to hold it open for her.  She glanced at him, feeling her cheeks heating for some idiotic reason.

She forced a laugh, “Well, if you don’t know what it is that pretty much answers that, doesn’t it?”  Then she gave a genuine giggle,  “It was a dumb question anyways.  An amish person wouldn’t be cosplaying as an elf.”

He raised a brow but said nothing as they neared the counter.

A cheery girl with bubble gum pink hair greeted them from the other side, “Welcome to the Whole Bean, what can we brew for you today?”

“I’ll have a vanilla latte with almond milk please, and he’ll have…”  She turned to look up at him, “Uhm what do you like?  I mean flavor wise, sweet things or—”

“I enjoy sweet things.”  

She saw his eyes landing on one of the pastries in the display and couldn’t help the grin that broke on her face.  “Could he get a caramel macchiato, extra caramel, and one of those little pastry cake things, the one with the strawberry on top.”

“Sure thing.”  The woman finished writing his drink on the cup, then tapped their order into the register, “That’ll be 10.85.”  

She dug into her purse and handed over her credit card.  Even though she tried not to be obvious about it, she saw his eyes sharpen on the action.  Could see the curiosity there with the slightest tilt of his head and how he leaned just a touch closer.  

Had he really never seen a credit card before?  Who was this guy?

They waited in silence for their drinks.  It could have felt awkward, but he was so intent on everything around him it made it so it felt… well normal wasn’t the word, but something.  When their coffee was done they took it, and Solas’ cake, to a little table next to the windows.

He continued to watch everything, mostly the people walking around outside.  She let him do this in silence for a while before she cleared her throat, “So… really thank you for finding Athena.  I’m kind of surprised she warmed to you.  Her past wasn’t the best so most people… she can be a bit… well she is scared around a lot of people.”

His eyes focused on her again, “That is unfortunate.  I am sorry that such a sweet creature was hurt.”

Emma shrugged, “Unfortunately, sometimes bad people do bad things.”

“Indeed.”  He took an experimental sip of his drink, seemed surprised for a moment, then took a full drink.

She smiled, “You like it.”

“Yes it is… quite good, actually.”

“I’m glad.”

They set in silence for a while longer.  When he finished eating his cake he shifted, tugged on his sleeves, before he spoke again, “I would pay you back for the food and drink, but I am unsure—”  
  
“Oh don’t worry about that, it’s the least I can do.”  His face softened and her heart did an odd little skip.  She cleared her throat, “Uhm, are you staying someplace in town?”

“No.”  His brows knit for a beat before he smoothed his features again, “I had not intended to be here at all, if I am honest.  I fear,”  He took a breath as he went through some internal debate, “things have become complicated.”

Her eyes widened, “You… Do you not have anywhere to stay?”  
  
He shook his head, “Do not trouble yourself.  My hope is I will not be here long.  I simply must find that which I seek and I will be able to leave.”

He even spoke like a fantasy character.  

She took a breath.  What she was about to do was completely insane.  He could be some crazy ax murderer masquerading as a humble hobo… elf.  

Yup, she’d totally lost her marbles.  
  
“You could,”  She looked down at the last bit of her latte, “You could stay with me if you wanted.  Just till you found it, whatever it is.  I have a guest room.”

“You do not fear that I will murder you in your sleep?”

Her eyes shot up to his face and she saw the teasing grin there.  It was the first real full smile he’d given her and it was—

She cleared her throat, “Yeah, well, technically you could have murdered me in the park and dumped me in the lake.  Besides, Athena trusts you so…”

“I would not impose, Emma.”

“It will be no trouble, really.  I couldn’t live with myself if I knew I let my dog’s knight in shining armor sleep out on the streets.”  
  
There was that chuckle again.

“Very well.  I appreciate your offer and I accept it.”

So it was that she somehow ended up with a hobo elf house guest.  Maybe she could ask him to show her how he got those ears so realistic looking.

 


End file.
